Safety helmet



Feb. 14, 1961 D. J. voss 2,971,195

SAFETY HELMET Filed June 2, 195a INVENTOR.

DONALD J. V055 BY M, #Mv

46 13 litter-hays United States Patent ()1 SAFETY HELMET Donald J. Voss,Ingram, Pa., assignor to Mine Safety Appliances Company, Pittsburgh,Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed June 2, 1958, Ser. No. 739,052

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-3) This invention relates to helmets such as are wornby industrial workers.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a protective helmetwhich will efifectively absorb energy directed against it from the top,sides, front or back; which has easily replaceable parts; which utilizea single size, shape and design crown for different size heads; andwhich is of simple construction.

In accordance with this invention, a rigid brimis supported by the lowerpart of a cradle which fits over the head. A rigid crown covers thecradle and is spaced from it. The brim extends laterally away from thecradle beneath the crown and supports permanently distortable means. Thelower part of the crown is supported by the distortable means to holdthe crown in place. When during use the crown accidentally receives animpact of sufficient force, the distortable means will be distortedpermanently, and in distorting will absorb energy and thereby absorb theshock of the impact. Preferably, the distortable means takes the .formof a ring encircling the brim and secured to it.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings; in which Fig.1 is a side view, half in vertical section, of my helmet; and

Figs. 2 and 3 are fragmentary vertical sections through helmetsillustrating modifications of this invention.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the crown 1 of the helmet may bemade of any material that will give it the necessary strength andrigidity, either metal or a molded composition. Such crowns are wellknown and are generally surrounded by an integral inclined brim, but inthis case the crown has no such brim. Inside the crown there is acradle, which may be formed from straps 2 that pass over the head. Thestraps may be connected together at the top in any desired manner. Thelower ends of the straps are turned back upon themselves and fastenedwith rivets 3 to form loops. The rivets also extend through the outerportion of a headband 4 that fits around the head.

It is a feature of this invention that the cradle straps support a rigidbrim that is separate from the crown. The brim has a laterallyprojecting lower portion 6, and

preferably an integral inner portion 7 extending up between the cradleand the surrounding crown. The loops in the lower ends of the strapspass through slots in relatively stilt retaining members 8 engaging thelower surface of the brim. Each of these retaining members has a keyholeslot 9 in its outer end that receives a stud 10 anchored in the brim.Consequently, the brim is supported around the head by the cradle.

Another feature of the invention is that the brim supports permanentlydistortable means, which in turn supports the crown so that the shock ofa blow against the crown will be absorbed by the distortable means. Thedistortable means is shown as a ring 12 of crushable brittle material,which is cemented or otherwise secured to the upper surface of the brim.The top of this shock .absorbing material is provided with an annulargroove curled outward so that a curved surface of considerable area willseat against the bottom of the groove. By undercutting the outer wall ofthe groove a little, the edge of the crown can snap out into theundercut and thereby lock the crown in place. The material of the shockabsorbing ring is hard and strong enough to oifer considerableresistance to movement of the crown toward the brim, but the ring willbreak or collapse and be crushed by the crown when enough force isapplied, without attempting to return to its original shape as rubberwould do. Cellular cellulose acetate or expanded thermoplastic vinylresin, for example, are suitable.

It will be seen that whether the crown receives a bloW from the top,either side or the front or back, the force will be transmitted to thecrushable ring. If the force is suflicient to cause the crown to crushthe ring, the energy thus absorbed will greatly reduce the shock of theimpact before it can reach the brim and be transmitted through thecradle to the head.

Another advantage of this invention is that all crowns can be made thesame size and shape, but the brim'scan bemade in difierent sizes fordifferent size heads. It is considerably cheaper to make different sizebrims than diiierent size crowns. The shock absorbing rings willgenerally be made in a standard size to fit the smallest brim. Forlarger brims, the inside of a ring can easily be ground away to enlargethe ring.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2, the cradle 16 is not connected tothe lower portion of the brim 17, but directly to the upper portion. Forthis purpose the cradle preferably is formed from a plastic and isprovided in its lower ends with keyhole slots 18 that receive studs 19projecting from the upper end of the brim. By providing the cradle withadditional slots 20 at a higher elevation, the distance from the bottomof the brim to the top of the cradle can be reduced for low heads of lowcrown height.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 3, there is nocrushable ring of shock absorbing material. Instead, the crown 22 issupported and spaced from the separate brim 23 by a continuous ordiscontinuous strip 24 of material secured to both in any suitable way,such as by cementing. The strip is folded or bent lengthwise along itscenter so that its edges can be secured to the crown and its centralportion to the upper part of the brim. Of course, the strip could beturned around without affecting its usefulness. The strip is made ofpermanently stretchable or elongatable material that will absorb energyas it is lengthened. For example, it can be made of undrawn plasticmaterial, such as nylon. Or, it can take the form of woven material inwhich the threads are connected at their intersections by a bindingcomposition that will rupture when a predetermined tensile force isapplied. Such a material is disclosed in the copending patentapplication of Vo-ss and Theodore, Serial Number 662,500, filed May 29,1957, now Patent No. 2,921,318, granted January 19, 1960. If the crownreceives a blow above a predetermined value, it will stretch the strip24 downward. In elongating, the strip will absorb energy and therebyreduce the shock reaching the brim.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims,

3 the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallyillustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A safety helmet comprising a cradle adapted to fit over the head andbe supported thereby, a rigid brim supported by the lower part of thecradle and extending laterally away from it, a ring of crushablebrittlematerial secured to the top of the brim around the cradle, and a rigidcrown covering the cradle and spaced from it and the brim, the loweredge of the crown being located above said laterally extending brim,said ring being 'formed to support the crown and hold it in place,whereby when in use the crown accidentally receives an impact ofsuflicient force said ring will be crushed and the shock of said impactthereby reduced.

2. A safety helmet comprising a cradle adapted to fit over the head andbe supported thereby, a rigid brim supported by the lower part of thecradle and extending laterally away from it, a ring of crushable brittlematerial secured to the top of the brim around the cradle, and a rigidcrown covering the cradle and spaced from it and the brim, the loweredge of the crown being located above said laterally extending brim, thetop of the ring being provided with an annular recess receiving thebottom of the crown and holding it in place, whereby when in use thecrown accidentally receives an impact of sufiicient force said ring willbe crushed and the shock of said impact thereby reduced.

3. A safety helmet comprising a cradle adapted to fit over the head andbe supported thereby, a rigid brim supported by the lower part of thecradle and extending laterally away from it, permanently distortablemeans secured to the top of the laterally projecting portion of the brimaround the cradle, and a rigid crown covering the cradle and spaced fromit and the brim, the brim having an integral inner portion extendingupwardly from the inner edge of its laterally projecting portion andspaced by said distortalble means from said crown, the lower edge of thecrown being located above said laterally extending brim, and the lowerpart of the crown being connected with and supported by said distortablemeans to hold the crown in place, whereby when in use the crownaccidentally receives an impact of sufiicient force, said means will bedistorted permanently and while distorting will absorb energy from saidforce and thereby absorb the shock of said impact.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,177,145 Lewis Oct. 24, 1939 2,197,174 Crosby Apr. 16, 1940 2,625,683Roth et al. Ian. 20, 1953 2,758,305 Gross Aug. 14, 1956 2,793,366Kleinman May 28, 1957 2,853,708 Austin Sept. 30, 1958 2,879,513Hornickel et al Mar. 31, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 17,207 Great Britain 1891707,963 Germany June 10, 1939

